After completing the Active Health unit last year, I had planned to revamp it but when I read about this assignment it gave me a direction. I thought about the successful dialogues that we had shared last year as a class and I realised that these lessons incorporated real-world situations and because of this, the students were captivated with the material. Incorporating real-world situation within a lesson in fact follows the tenets of constructivism (512-Constructivism, 2013) and is incorporated in the Constructivist Instructional Model (CIM). In this course we were introduced to the CIM, CCM (Conceptual Change Model) and POE (Predict-Observe-Explain) models. With the knowledge of these models and my previous teaching experience I set my goal in designing a constructivist lesson on Active Health.
The first activity gets students to activate prior knowledge on the definition for “health” in order to make a connection to the new content. Making connections to prior knowledge is rooted in the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner and Ausubel and is also part of the CIM (512-Constructivism, 2013). The students’ prior knowledge is then shared with class to form a collective definition of the word health. This is accomplished using the web application Padlet which allows users to post ideas directly onto a web page so it basically operates as a class white board. During this activity everyone’s ideas are considered and shy students are able to make anonymous posts which helps to create a supportive communal environment which Vygotsky identifies as an important attribute of constructivist learning (Learning Resources Unit @ BCIT, 2003). According to Jonassen (1999) learning revolves within the conversation of the learners and not the interpretations of the teacher, thus this application fosters a collaborative and social style of learning. The only problem with this design is that it does not support an asynchronous learning situation. As the manager of the Padlet, I could moderate the students’ responses and post them all at once but part of the “beauty” of this tool is that it allows the learners to see their postings instantaneously which provide the students with instant gratification and a sense of belonging.
In the next part of this lesson, students were provided with links to other web sites which allowed the students to validate their previous ideas as well as the opportunity to explore new ideas on the definition of health. As they are exploring new ideas it is likely that the learners may experience cognitive conflict that will require resolution. Concept resolution was meant to be achieved by completing a concept map that illustrated the learners’ evolving definition of the word “health”. All these activities fall under the scope of the CIM and CCM and the use of concept maps helps students to become aware of their learning process.
Once the students have a good understanding of the complete definition of health they are directed to explore several websites and view a couple of videos. This content focuses on how personal choices can affect one’s health. Following this exploration students are asked to participate in a survey so that they reflect on their own health choices. This exercise is meant to bring the class together and share their ideas but it is also designed so that the learners make a personal connection to the content.
The final exercise is a short paragraph that asks students to reflect on their journey through this lesson. They are asked to apply their new knowledge by devising a plan to make more healthy choices and they are also asked to predict consequences of living an unhealthy lifestyle; in doing so elements of the POE model are implemented within this lesson.
I will be carrying out this lesson in a face-to-face environment but I believe its design would allow it to be utilised in a synchronous online environment as well. My role in the classroom will be to guide the students through the activities and get them to focus on the scaffolding that is provided through the diagrams, activities and guiding questions.
The first activity gets students to activate prior knowledge on the definition for “health” in order to make a connection to the new content. Making connections to prior knowledge is rooted in the theories of Piaget, Vygotsky, Bruner and Ausubel and is also part of the CIM (512-Constructivism, 2013). The students’ prior knowledge is then shared with class to form a collective definition of the word health. This is accomplished using the web application Padlet which allows users to post ideas directly onto a web page so it basically operates as a class white board. During this activity everyone’s ideas are considered and shy students are able to make anonymous posts which helps to create a supportive communal environment which Vygotsky identifies as an important attribute of constructivist learning (Learning Resources Unit @ BCIT, 2003). According to Jonassen (1999) learning revolves within the conversation of the learners and not the interpretations of the teacher, thus this application fosters a collaborative and social style of learning. The only problem with this design is that it does not support an asynchronous learning situation. As the manager of the Padlet, I could moderate the students’ responses and post them all at once but part of the “beauty” of this tool is that it allows the learners to see their postings instantaneously which provide the students with instant gratification and a sense of belonging.
In the next part of this lesson, students were provided with links to other web sites which allowed the students to validate their previous ideas as well as the opportunity to explore new ideas on the definition of health. As they are exploring new ideas it is likely that the learners may experience cognitive conflict that will require resolution. Concept resolution was meant to be achieved by completing a concept map that illustrated the learners’ evolving definition of the word “health”. All these activities fall under the scope of the CIM and CCM and the use of concept maps helps students to become aware of their learning process.
Once the students have a good understanding of the complete definition of health they are directed to explore several websites and view a couple of videos. This content focuses on how personal choices can affect one’s health. Following this exploration students are asked to participate in a survey so that they reflect on their own health choices. This exercise is meant to bring the class together and share their ideas but it is also designed so that the learners make a personal connection to the content.
The final exercise is a short paragraph that asks students to reflect on their journey through this lesson. They are asked to apply their new knowledge by devising a plan to make more healthy choices and they are also asked to predict consequences of living an unhealthy lifestyle; in doing so elements of the POE model are implemented within this lesson.
I will be carrying out this lesson in a face-to-face environment but I believe its design would allow it to be utilised in a synchronous online environment as well. My role in the classroom will be to guide the students through the activities and get them to focus on the scaffolding that is provided through the diagrams, activities and guiding questions.